Saturday, July 18, 2009

ALTITUDE SICKNESS … not cool man!!!

So walking around Cusco, I found myself short of breath, and had to make frequent rest stops to catch my breath … nothing too serious, but I was being conscious that its easily to get exhausted at this elevation.
Nothing could prepare me for what happened that night … throbbing headache and nausea, which caused insomnia … felt like a really bad hangover, except cannot have a beer to “re-set the levels” .. and also some delusions (no, not of grandure!!!), as I was trying to fall asleep…. which I failed to achieve all night.
I was really worried that I would not be able to make it to Machu Picchu the next day, but as I read the Lonely Planet (which described these symptoms), at some random hour like 3am, it advised to drop altitude by at least 500m.
I discovered that the destination we were going to (at base of Machu Picchu) was a town called Aguas Calientes (elevation 2410m) … so I might as well do the trip, in attempt to drop to lower elevation.

No comments: